ecology
study of how organisms interact w/ their environment
biosphere
area on and around earth where life exists (includes anywhere life exists)
ex of biosphere
deserts, grasslands, taigas, and oceans
ecosystem
includes all of the organisms and the nonliving environment found in a particular place (includes living and nonliving things)
ex of ecosystem
entire mountain range or coral reef
community
all the organisms that inhabit a particular area (only includes organisms)
population
group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area (only 1 species)
organisms
single living thing
biotic factors
include living organisms in the environment
ex of biotic factors
plants, animals, bacteria, fungi
abiotic factors
include all nonliving things in the environment
ex of abiotic factors
temperature, water, sunlight, wind, humidity, pH, oxygen concentration
behavior is a result of what?
genetic and environmental factors
innate behavior
behaviors that all individuals have due to genetics
ex of innate begavior
fixed action pattern: stickle-back fish only attack red things
fixed action pattern
sequence of behaviors that's unchangeable and usually carried to completion once initiated
learned behavior
change in behavior resulting from a past experience
imprinting
type of learning that's limited to a specific period in an organisms life
critical period
time period where imprinting takes pkace
ex of imprinting
goose learning to follow its mother at a young age
kinesis
simple change in activity rate in response to a stimulus
ex of kinesis
sos bugs become more active in dry areas and less active in humid areas
taxis
automatic movement toward or away from a stimulus
ex of taxis
caterpillars move away from light
migration
when organisms move to a different habitat that has better conditions for a short period of time
signals
behaviors by 1 organism that cause changes in the behavior of another organism (form of animal communication)
pheromones
chemical signals that are emitted by animals
leadning
changes in behavior resulting from a past experience
habituation
involves a loss of responsiveness to a stimulus that converts little or no info
ex of habituation
crying wolf
spatial learnjng
based on experience of the habitat and environment
ex of spatial learning
wasp uses landmarks to find nest
associative learing
ability to learn to associate 1 feature of the environment with anoher
classical conditioning
learning to associate a certain stimulus w/ reward or punishment
ex of classical conditioning
dog salivates when a. well rings b/c the dog knows that it's going to get food
operant conditioning
learning to associate ones own behavior w/ a reward or punishment
ex of operant conditioning
a mouse remembers that a certain type of caterpillar is distasteful
cognition
ability of an animals nervous system to perceive, store, process, & use info from sensory receptors
foraging behavior
behaviors associated w/ recognizing, searching for, capturing, and consuming food
mating behavior
behaviors associated w/ seeking or attracting of mates, selecting a mate, & competing for a mate
agnostic behavior
involving a contest of some kind, which determines which competitor will gain access to some resource, such as food or mayes
altruism (kin selection)
reduces an individuals fitness while increasing the fitness of another individual
ex of altruism
squirrel gives a high pitch noise to alert others that a fox is nearby but draws attention to itself
cooperation
when a group carries out behaviors in a more efficient way than is possible for a single individual
dominance hierarchy
behavior w/in a group that are controlled by the social status ("pecking order") of organisms w/in that group
social learning
learning through observing others
population density
measures how crowded a population is
population dispersion
pattern of spacing among individuals within boundaries of the population
clumped
pattern of spacing in which individuals aggregate in predictable patterns
what influences clumped
available resources
uniform
pattern of spacing in which individuals are evenly spaced
what influences uniform
social interactions such as territoriality
random
pattern of spacing in which individuals are dispersed independently of one another in an unpredictable pattern
growth rate
birth rate - death rate
zero population growth
occurs when the growth rate equals he death rate
exponential model
model of growth under ideal conditions in which the population increases very rapidly forever; rate of reproduction is at maximum, not realistic bc resources become listed as population grows
logistic model
model in which the population increases very rapidly but then levels off, death rate increases when resources become limited
when the environment can't support any more individuals the population is said to be
at its carrying capacity
r-selected populations
populations that are NOT near their carrying capacity, which allow for high reproductive rates
k-selected populations
population thats likely to be living at a density near the limit imposed by their resources
density independent factors
something that affects the population size regardless of the population density
density dependent factors
something that affects the population size due to the population density
ex of density independent factors
floods, fires, volcanos, etc
ex of density dependent factors
food shortages, nesting site shortages
competition
interaction that's detrimental to both species in which organism fight for a resource in short supply
competitive exclusion
when 2 diff species are in competition for the same resource only 1 will eventually gain an advantage and eliminate the other species
predation
interaction b/w 2 species in which one species eat the other species
cryptic coloration
when an animal is camouflaged by its coloring
aposematic coloration
when a poisonous animal is brightly colored as a warning to other animals
batesian mimicry
when an animal that is nonpoisonous has evolved to mimic the coloration of a poisonous animal
mullerian mimicry
when 2 bad tasting species resemble each other, so that predators will learn to avoid both of them equally
herbivory
interaction in which a herbivore eats part of a plant or algae
parasitism
interaction in which one organism (parasite) feeds on another individual (host)
mutualism
symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit
ex of mutualism
bee pollinates a flower and the flower provides nectar for the bee
commensalism
relationship in which 1 organism benefits and the other is neither helped nor harmed
succession
gradual growth of a species in an area after some disturbance
primary succession
growth of organisms in a region that eaad lifeless before, slow
secondary succession
growth of organisms in a region that ad previously supported life (before some disturbance)
trophic levels
dividing of species in a community based on their main source of nutrition
food chain
single pathway that traces the transfer of food from organism to organism (beginning w/ the producers); grass-mouse-snake-hawk
food web
more complex diagram consisting of 2 or more food chains linked together
primary producers
organism that make their own food and ultimately support all other members of the ecosystem
primary consumers
herbivores which each plants or algae
secondary consumers
carnivores that eat herbivore
tertiary consumers
carnivores that eat there carnivores
detritivores
eat recently dead plants and animals
decomposers
break down dead tissues and wastes into simpler molecules
plants take in CO2 and water to form
sugar and water
plants can't use nitrogen in the form of N2 so nitrogen fixation occurs when banter in the soil converts N2 into
ammonium and nitrate
plants take up nitrates and ammonium to make
proteins and nucleic acids
phosphorus cycle is the most unique because
it has no gas phase
ozone layer
layer of ozone that reaches the amount of UV radiation that reaches the Earth's surface
greenhouse gases
gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, & nitrous oxide, which prevent heat from escaping Earth's surface